"Who was it?" asked Mark impatiently, for the old trapper was a slow talker.
"It was the same man you're lookin' for," declared Bascomb. "I'm sure of it, an' he's hangin' out in the old Preakness house. If you want t' see him, why don't you go there?"
"We will!" cried Jack. "Come on, Mark. I think we're on the trail at last."
CHAPTER VII
MARK IS CAPTURED
Eagerly the boys hurried forward, intent on making the best time possible to the old Preakness homestead, which was a landmark for miles around, and which, in its day, had been a handsome house and estate. Now it was fallen into ruins, for there was a dispute among the heirs, and the property was in the Chancery Court.
"Do you think we'll find him there?" asked Mark, as they made their way along the dusty highway. "Hard to tell. Yet, if he's hanging out in this neighborhood, that would be as good a place as any, for him to hide in."
"I wonder who he can be, anyhow? And how he knows me?"
"Give it up. Evidently he isn't a tramp, though he stays in a place where there are plenty of the Knights of the Road."
The boys increased their pace, and were soon on the main road leading to the Preakness house, and about a mile away from it. "We'll soon be there now," remarked Jack. "Then we'll see if we can find that man."